14 THE GHOSTS OF THE TROPICAL FOREST 
To the naturalist, the most marked feature of the 
great tropical forest south of the Equator, is the 
inequality in the balance of Nature between vegetable 
and animal life. From the forests of Brazil to the 
forests of the Congo, through the wooded heights of 
northern Madagascar, to the tangled jungles of the 
Asiatic Archipelago and the impenetrable woods of 
New Guinea, the boundless profusion of vegetable 
growth is unmatched by any similar abundance in 
animal forms. A few brilliant birds of strange shape 
and matchless plumage, such as the toucans of Guinea 
and the Amazon, or the birds of paradise in the 
Moluccas or the Papuan Archipelago, haunt the 
loftiest trees, and from time to time fall victims to the 
blow-pipe or arrow of the natives, who scarcely dare 
to penetrate that foodless region, even for such rich 
spoils, until incantation and sacrifice have propitiated 
the offended spirits of the woods ; but except the sloth 
and the giant ant-eater, there is hardly to be found in 
the tropical regions of the New World a quadruped 
which can excite the curiosity of the naturalist, or 
form food even for the wildest of mankind. In the 
corresponding tracts of Africa and the Asiatic Archi- 
pelago, the rare four-footed animals that live in the 
solitary forests are, for the most part, creatures of the 
night. Unlike the lively squirrels and marten-cats of 
temperate regions, they do not leave their hiding- 
places till the tropical darkness has fallen on the forest, 
when they seek their food, not on the surface of the 
ground, but, imitating the birds, ascend to the upper 
